RIM Shares Fall After U.S. Market Share Shrinks to 1.6%

Research In Motion Ltd. fell 7.9 percent to $11.03 at 10:44 a.m. in New York, the biggest intraday decline since Nov. 7. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd. fell the
most since June after the BlackBerry’s U.S. market share shrank
to 1.6 percent, hurt by Apple Inc.’s iPhone winning more
customers.

The stock dropped 11 percent to $10.72 at the close in New
York, the biggest decline since June 29. While the shares have
rallied more than 35 percent in November, they are still down 26
percent this year.

The device’s market share fell 6.9 percentage points over
the 12-week period ended Oct. 28 from a year earlier, Kantar
Worldpanel ComTech said today in a report. The iPhone’s share
more than doubled to 48 percent, fueled by the debut of a new
model.

RIM had been climbing this month amid growing optimism that
the company’s BlackBerry 10 smartphones will be successful. The
new lineup, due early next year, is the linchpin of RIM’s plan
to challenge the iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android operating
system in a market that it once led.

RIM was hurt as more customers dumped their BlackBerrys and
switched to the iPhone 5, adding to the ranks of previous Apple
customers who also upgraded to the latest model, said Dominic
Sunnebo, a Kantar analyst.

RIM has said the BlackBerry 10 models will go on sale in
February on multiple continents and are currently being tested
by more than 50 carriers. That has triggered at least three
upgrades from analysts. Until the debut, sales are set to
struggle as BlackBerry faithful hold off on upgrading to await
the newer models.

Sales probably fell 49 percent last quarter to $2.65
billion, according to the average analyst estimate in a
Bloomberg survey. RIM reports earnings on Dec. 20.